Diplomacy 'should boost economies'

China is telling the world that boosting the economy is of the utmost importance in times of a global financial turmoil, experts said yesterday, citing Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi's briefing on Saturday.

During the 90-minute-long news conference on the sidelines of the National People's Congress (NPC), Yang stressed that China's over-arching objective was to "spare no effort to ensure steady and rapid economic development".

He said the forthcoming G20 summit in London should "play a role in boosting confidence, strengthening coordination on macroeconomic policies, stabilizing financial markets (and) undertaking necessary reforms in the global financial system and regulatory regime".

"Yang said diplomacy should serve economic growth, meaning boosting their economies is the overarching theme for all countries," said Professor Shi Yinhong, with the Renmin University of China.

His colleague Professor Pang Zhongying said Yang meant Sino-US relations were of greater importance.

Pang pointed out that Yang cautiously avoided criticizing the US when asked to give his view on Washington's role in the crisis, drawing attention instead to President Hu Jintao's imminent first meeting with US President Barack Obama during the G20 summit in London in early April.

Yang is off on a 5-day work visit to the US that started March 8, to facilitate the groundwork for the meeting, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Ties between the Chinese and US governments took off well since the new Obama administration took office, Yang said.

Yang acknowledged that China's energy and resource cooperation with African countries was based on mutual benefit, adding that Beijing was deeply touched by African goodwill, even as some African leaders said they had nothing concrete to offer.

Beijing's continuous assistance to African countries will be even more crucial than before, said Dai Yan, a former councilor in Ghana, given that Africa was likely to face "decreasing assistance, trade, and tourists from the Western world during the economic crisis".

Beijing should appeal to the developed world not to cut its assistance to Africa, economically the "most vulnerable place", Dai added.